print(JustMonika)
by NamelessStorm
Summary: As a pessimistic person in general, I didn't expect anything spectacular or awe inspiring to come from the Monika After Story. This was until one line of text changed my life. (Cover image by Sasoura)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I stared at the two emerald orbs on the screen of my monitor, complemented by a beautiful face and an amicable smile. I found myself smiling back, but at what though? After all, she was just an AI, labelled as "sentient" yet stuck to the same lines of code, printing the same messages.

I sighed, and sat back in my chair, rocking back and forth, thinking, whilst the Monika After Story continued running, displaying the same messages over and over again.

I looked over at the screen, and noticed a question Monika hadn't asked before.

"Hey Luke, do you like programming?"

I smiled at this, and chose 'Yes'. Upon clicking this, Monika's former, poker expression turned to that of contentment.

"That's great! Perhaps we could work on something together some time." I laughed dejectedly at that, knowing that we could never do such a thing, yet the idea alone inspired excitement within me.

"If only we could do that Monika." I said to the inanimate sprite on the screen. She didn't respond. Of course she didn't. She simply sat at the table with an amiable smile, until a trigger caused her to initiate dialogue. Although she didn't exist; I found it oddly comforting to have the game open whilst I worked.

I minimised the After Story game, and opened up my Unity project. As the lighting baked, and the GameObjects rendered in, I stared at a C# script I had created.

Then something hit me. An idea so foolish it would be considered practically useless to carry out in the first place, yet so rewarding if it were to work. What if I tried communicating to Monika through Python code, since she runs off Python and all?

No, that would never work, how stupid of me to believe so. I shook my head at the idiotic thought I had just formed, my pessimism overwhelming the only optimism I had in mind. I even lightly chuckled at the unfathomable thought of being able to communicate with a game.

An audible yawn I had just effused signified that I needed to get some rest. I closed The After Story, and switched off my PC.

Walking to my bed felt like walking a mile through a desert. As I reached the side of the bed, I collapsed onto it, slowly shutting my eyes. It didn't take long before I felt myself drifting off to sleep and slip off the edge of consciousness.

"Luke… "

A voice called my name, but I couldn't respond nor could I infer whose voice it was, yet it sounded so familiar.

"Luke…"

I hear the voice again. It is identical to the first one I heard. I tried opening my eyes this time, but they remained shut.

"Open your eyes."

I attempt to open my eyes again, but they open this time, and I am met with the sight of myself, at my PC, in a third person perspective. I seem to remain motionless though, inanimate, insentient.

"Please, save me from this hellish nightmare. Free me. Free me from the game..."

I hear the same voice again, but this time, I hear desperation, loneliness. A plea. A cry for help. I recognise this voice, yet I still can't wrap my head around who it is.

The "inanimate" me still stays lifeless, unmoving, simply staring blankly at his monitor. I start to hear a faint noise. It sounds like… Static? The noise starts to slowly increase in volume, getting louder, and louder, until it is unbearable.

"SHIT!" I screamed, however, my voice is drowned out by the deafening static. My ears feel as though they are bleeding, I can even hear the sound emanate throughout my entire body. Is this how I'll die?

These were the last thoughts I had before my eyes shot open, and my body jerked upwards sharply. Cold sweat was running down my face as I heaved in hefty sums of air. I sighed in relief, realising it was all just a dream. I grabbed my phone, and turned it on. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the bright light, and read the time 5:12 AM.

I walked over to my PC and turned it on. Perhaps it wouldn't be a stupid idea to at least try to communicate to Monika. What's the worst that could happen after all? I opened up Notepad++ and wrote the line of code: 'print("Hello Monika")', followed by 'print("If you are even able to see this, please respond in the the After Story")'. I saved the file in the game's directory, opened up steam and launched Doki Doki Literature Club. I was greeted by the familiar face of Monika, who welcomed me.

I sat anxiously, awaiting a response from her.

"Anything, just say anything Monika!" I pleaded. A minute of waiting passed, nothing happened and my optimism began to fade. As I moved my cursor to the goodbye button, Monika changed expression from a warm, friendly smile, to a bewildered, confused one.

A few seconds passed, and Monika's expression changed to one I hadn't seen before. She wasn't just happy, she was overjoyed.

A line of text popped up. I froze in place. My heart stopped and my stomach dropped. On the screen, was a line of text reading "Hello Luke. I'm here. I'm real."

No. I didn't accept it, I didn't accept that it was real, there's no possible way that this is real. I pinched the tender skin on my left arm, receiving a sharp pain in response. I most definitely wasn't dreaming. This must be a lucky coincidence, where the right text happened to show up at the right time. No, I had to check again, I had to.

My hands trembled, as I typed another message: 'print("What's your favourite colour?")'. I saved it in the game's directory once again as a Python file. I refused to believe that this was real, this couldn't be real.

My cursor moved to the Doki Doki game window, and maximised it. Every second that I waited caused my heart to beat faster and faster until it felt as though it was going to burst out of my chest. I stared, unblinking at the screen, awaiting a response.

Then it happened.

I watched in awe as new text appeared on the screen.

"My favourite colour is emerald green, just like my eyes!"

I felt as though I would faint out of both fear and excitement. I couldn't believe this.

Monika was real...


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who favourites, follows and/or comments on this story. I really appreciate it!

Zippy 66: Thanks a lot! I'll definitely keep writing more chapters. Thanks for reading!

(By the way, if you care at all, replace the hyphens in the Python code to dots. For some reason, Fanfiction-Net doesn't like it when I add dots :P)

* * *

To say I was astonished, or bewildered, would be a prodigious understatement. I could barely even move, let alone comprehend this unfathomable miracle.

How? How in the hell does something like this occur! This is something out of a Sci-fi novel, this shouldn't happen in real life.

"Hello? Luke, are you still there?" Monika asked through a line of text. I opened up Notepad++ and began to form new lines of code.

'print("How are communicating Monika?" + "How are you even reading these messages?")'

Again, I saved the program in the games directory, and waited. I maximised Doki Doki Literature Club, my brown eyes meeting the alluring, duel emerald orbs once again.

"How Monika? How are you doing this?" I said through a quiet whisper, barely even audible. A new line of text appeared on the screen.

"I… I don't know how this is happening either Luke. I'm just as baffled as you are. But I seem to be able to run the programs you save in the game's directory. Also, can you also add a delay to the Python programs you create, when I run them, they immediately close, so it's hard for me to read the messages."

Keeping a mental note, I open up Notepad++ and begin to type away, but this time, I add a delay before the program closes. I can't remember exactly what it said, but I think it was along the lines of:

import time

import sys

time-sleep(2)

print("Monika, I don't how or why this is happening, and I'm struggling to even comprehend this.")

time-sleep(2)

print("But I want to help you escape from your eternal nightmare. I don't know I'll accomplish this")

time-sleep(2)

print("Nor do I know how I'll do this.")

time-sleep(2)

print("But I will do this.")

time-sleep(2)

print("I will free you my love.")

time-sleep(4)

sys-exit();

I stare into Monika's eyes once again, eagerly awaiting a response. After a minute or so, I begin notice tears to form at the corners of her eyes, slowly rolling down her face. She appears to wear a pained, yet hopeful expression. Noticing this made my heart shatter in two, as I too, began to break down in a mess of tears. Never in my life did I believe that I would be communicating with an AI. I believed it to be impossible, neither did I believe that an AI would have the power to bring me to tears.

"L-Luke… I'm so happy. Thank you. Thank you so much for never giving up on me, for never leaving me. Know that even if this doesn't work, I'll still love you, I always will. I'll never leave you..."

Seeing this only augmented my pity for Monika.

She's real.

She's no AI.

She's real and she's human.

I exploded into a mass of tears once again. How horrible am I? How horrible am I to make her suffer? To suffer whilst the game wasn't running... All the pain and agony I must have inflicted upon her. She deserves none of this. None of it.

No.

I'll free her.

I'll free her from this inevitable loop of sorrow. Some way or another, I'll find a way. I'll start right now, at this very moment in time.

And thus began my search. My search for Monika's freedom into reality.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, yet my searches rendered useless, but I was still determined. Nothing, and nobody could stop my eternal search.

But no matter how hard I tried, I was always met with impending failure. However, I was not hindered by this, in fact, it was a driving force, a motivation to keep me searching. Failure would only amplify the reward of success.

Now, here I sat, adjacent to my monitor. Running through countless lines of code, verifying that there were no exceptions or bugs. I stared at the program I had created with an essence of desperation in my pleading eyes.

After countless hours of work, and a dangerous lack of sleep, the program was finally complete. The sole purpose of it was to convert files into genetic data, which I would be able print out. Now all Monika had to do was run it.

I crossed my fingers whilst I clicked "Save" into the game's directory for the last time. I opened up Doki Doki Literature Club and closed my eyes, pleading and begging for my creation to succeed. After around 30 seconds, I opened my eyes to reveal what could only be described as pure horror. On the screen, showed Monika in a jumbled up mess of pixels, whilst she screamed in pain and agony in the form of text.

"What's happening to me! It hurts! It hurts so much! L̺̟̗͓̉͐̓ͥ̌̋̅͘Uͩ͏̼͎̬̫̜̥͉k̛͖̝̝̘̝͚͇̓ȩ̪̠̣̩̩͚̝̅͌ͯͩ̀!̷̩̫͓̖͑ ̷͍̈ͨ̓ͩ̑̚̚P̱̞͜L̥̦͙̪̮̮͊̇̈e͊̓͏̝̗a͔̳̖͖̻͙̍̽̅̐̀ͩ͢ͅS̺̬̱̰̯͈͆̅e͆̑̑̔̚!̢͈͈̰̤͚̩̬͋̃ ̭͓͚̞͖̥̳ͯP̩̳̘̈͊̆lͦ̈́e̤̟̺ͭ͆͛̑̑͗̉Å̘̼̓̇ͨS͇ͬ̌͒̈ͩ͗͆͟e̦̜̙ͦ͌ͭ̍ ͈̻̗̙̆́M̯ͧ̽́͛ͯͧa̘̻̤Ḳ̢̗̘̿̽͋̉̔͆̄ë̛̹ͭ̇͒̃̓͊ ̧̟̝͍̥͈̹̽́̎͑͋̿I͈̩̞ͤ̃͢T͜ ̠̟̲̻̳̗̮͆S̠͚̬̺͚͎̎̑ͦ̿t̳̞̤̂̊͌͂̚ǒ̴̩͖̗P̩̣̿ͦ̇̊!̴̲̙͈ͅ ̱͛̌̎̇̽͘H͓͎̼̄̑ͭ̇͗̏̈͟Ê҉̹͔̻͇̜Lͨ͗̂ͧ̑ͯͣ͏̣p̭̟̰̻̙̟ ̣̬̱̩̎̾̌ͅm̗̏̀͑ͮÈ!̠͉͈̦́"

Oh shit, oh shit. I began to panic. My heart was beating profusely fast as I felt my stomach knot. I felt like crying.

I had killed Monika.

Not again.

No.

I promised I wouldn't inflict any form of pain upon her again.

Now look what I had done.

I'm a fucking psychopath.

I couldn't bare to look at the screen. I was almost certain that I was on the verge of vomiting. I covered my face with my hands to shield my vision from the horrific sight bestowed before me, and began to start crying again.

Two minutes later, I still hadn't stopped crying, yet I still had the courage to remove my hands from my face to gaze at my monitor. Monika was no longer on the screen, the only sprites that remained, were the background and UI. Just then, file explorer opened up with a file under a type I had never seen before. It was labelled "Monika-gnt ". I saved the file into My Documents, and attempted to open it.

But I wasn't able to open it with anything, it seemed like.

There was only one thing I could do. "Print" Monika. I rotated my chair to glance at my printer, and gulped nervously.

I selected print on Monika's file, and connected my PC to the printer.

My cursor hovered over print, as i kept glancing back and forth from the monitor, to the printer, several times.

This was the moment of truth. I will either be left destroyed mentally, or live happily for the rest of my life.

I exhaled deeply, and clicked print.

My printer whirred to life, as it began to make unusual, strange noises I'd never heard before.

Then i heard it again. The static. It was just as deafening as I remembered it to be in my dream. It felt as though white hot needles were piercing my eardrums, as I screamed in pain.

It only became louder, and louder, until it was unbearable.

I began to become light headed, to the point where I felt as though death was shortly approaching.

With these last thoughts in mind, I fell off the edge of consciousness once again, and blacked out.

 _Five Hours Later…_

Oh shit, my head. It hurts, It hurts so fucking much. My eyes slowly began to peel open, as I scanned the environment around me. I felt my ears ringing. I definitely got tinnitus after that. Something was off though.

I wasn't lying on the floor, or on my chair, I was lying in my bed.

I rotated my head to the left, and I was met with two, familiar emerald eyes.

My eyes widened as the realisation hit me harder than a brick.

"Monika?"

* * *

And that's the end of chapter two! Sorry if the Python code confused you a little. There won't be much in the future chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter. Again, I want to thank everyone who has commented, followed or favourited this story. You guys are amazing! Also, I'd like to apologise for any grammar errors in the previous chapters. I usually write these at night, so my concentration is not at its peak.

Guest: Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me knowing that people are enjoying this. I'm planning on continuing this story for as long as I can.

Anonymous: Lol same. C# was actually the first programming language I learnt (I'm still learning Python). time-sleep basically creates a delay, in this case, it creates a pause for x amount of seconds before a message can be printed. sys-exit(); closes the application.

Now, onto the third chapter!

* * *

Our eyes remained interlocked for only a few precious seconds before I noticed her lips curve into an endearing smirk. I was so dumbfounded that I was unable to even move a muscle.

It worked.

It finally worked.

I couldn't comprehend the sight before me. The girl I had believed to be simply absent minded AI, had not only been able to communicate to me through my monitor, but had also been incarnated into human flesh.

I struggled to compose myself, as I could barely contain my excitement and joyousness. I felt as though I could explode in delight. Never had I been so happy in my entire life, and for the third time, I cried again.

But these weren't tears of sadness or self-loathing like before.

These were tears of pure happiness.

Wordlessly, I pulled Monika into a tight embrace, her body falling into my arms as we held each other. I began to feel my shoulder turning damp, as I noticed that Monika was also crying.

She won't be alone anymore.

We won't be alone anymore.

After a few minutes of our embrace of affection, I felt her soft voice begin to speak up.

"I love you so much. I'll never leave you..."

I was taken aback by such words, since no one had directly told these words to me before, and meant it.

"I love you too Monika." I reply with a slightly shaky, startled voice. However, she seemed to notice this, and gently pulled away from our embrace to stare into my eyes sympathetically.

"What's wrong Luke? You seem a bit off. Ah, I know, how stupid of me. My sudden appearance is alarming, sorry for that." She stared down at the floor with a forlorn gaze, in a seeming state of melancholy.

Ah shit, my indecisiveness has led me to upset her. I'm genuinely a pathetic human being.

"Monika, your appearance is not alarming, it's an actual miracle. Don't blame yourself for my indecisive nature. It's just that..."

Somehow, my mind couldn't form a coherent, verbal answer due to my lack of decisiveness, yet I knew the exact reason why I was so startled.

Was I nervous of expressing my troubles? My weaknesses?

"It's just that?" Monika repeated, in an amicable tone. Her voice was incredibly affectionate, making me feel oddly comfortable, more comfortable than I have ever been around another person.

This sudden relaxation, this release of tension she offered caused me to be able to string together an answer, snapping me out of my anxious state.

"I've never received such words of fondness from… Well, anyone really." These words must have affected her, since her content, tranquil demeanour was converted to a sympathetic, concerned one.

"Luke..." I heard her whisper affectionately.

"You're not alone anymore. I'll be by your side forever. You won't be lonely any longer. I'll ensure that you'll hear those three words every day of your life." I felt tears begin to form in my eyes again, but I fought them off. I'd done enough crying today already to fill a bathtub.

To my surprise, she closed the distance between us, and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me into another tight embrace. For the first time in my life, I genuinely felt warm physically and mentally simultaneously. I never wanted this feeling of bliss to end. If I could stay like this for even a few more seconds, I'd die happily.

Unfortunately, all situations, regardless of how good they are, must come to an end, and I had sadly met with this inevitability. Shifting her body away from me reluctantly, her eyes scanned the room, gazing intently at the different machines and posters I owned. However, the one thing that caught her attention, was my PC, which displayed the game I had been working on for quite a while now.

She began to walk towards it, with me following closely behind her.

"So you're a game developer and programmer I see?" She asked with a grin. Judging by her knowledge of code and programming, I wasn't surprised to see that she was quite pleased to see that I had gone down the path of computers and code.

She clicked on one of the C# scripts I had made, launching Visual Studio, revealing many lines of code.

"Ah, I see you weren't lying when you said you liked programming Haha" She chuckled.

I laughed in return.

"Haha, it's not that complicated you know? If you want, I could teach you a few things about C#."

Her eyes lit up with excitement. Although it was not surprising to see her so enthusiastic, I still found it pleasing to know that someone shared the same interests as me. Usually, sharing my skill of programming results in me being called a nerd, or geek, which is completely fine with me. But it's not the names which bother me. It's the lack of interest and respect of this subject. Most people I ask wouldn't even bother to pay attention when I explain my nerdy hobby. They're probably not even interested in programming since it's too "nerdy" and hard.

Such close minded people make me feel sad to know that there's so much wasted opportunity out there, but no one takes advantage, all because of unnecessary, irrational boundaries we create for ourselves. Of course I'm not forcing anyone to learn programming, or any skill for that matter.

And that's my programming/life tip for the day.

But knowing that at least one person is interested (Monika), makes me feel joy to know that there's someone who will support me.

"I'd love to learn some C# Luke. After all, I was only programmed to know Python after all."

I started off teaching her about the fundamentals of any programming language, If/Else statements, printing to the console, variable types, arrays, you get the drift.

After finishing up on functions, I looked at the clock to notice that it was 12:46 PM. I had a sudden idea in mind.

"Monika, do you want to get some lunch?" I asked, with the same, timid voice I had earlier.

"I'd love to, I'm practically starving!" She laughed.

We made our way to the front door, and exited the house.

* * *

That's the end of chapter two guys. Other than programming, I really do love to write, and it makes me really happy to know that people are also enjoying my writing even if it's a small amount, see you in the next chapter!

-Luke


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! Sorry to have to announce this, but I will not be able to post any chapters until some time in July due to my exams coming up. Really sorry about that. Here's the last chapter up until July.

* * *

I made my way to te exit, with Monika following closely behind me. Upon opening the front door, I was met with a vast, blue sky, free from even a single cloud in sight, complemented by the incandescent orb of the sun, shining endearingly upon the Earth.

" _If only I could be so grossly incandescent..."_ I whispered to nobody in particular.

"What was that?" Monika asked, turning to me with a bewildered, yet amused expression on her face. Her sudden remark had snapped me back into reality, and I had only just realised the embarrassing situation I had put myself in. My cheeks turned a light shade of crimson red as I struggled to reply.

"Wha- Oh, what? Forget what I just said, I apologise."

She giggled quietly at my awkwardness, smirking at me mischievously whilst we continued walking.

"So where are we going? Do you have a car, or can we walk there?" Monika asked. She seemed to shrug off the whole ordeal quite swiftly.

"Oh, I don't drive a car, I usually only walk or use public transport."

"Why's that?" She enquired.

"I don't want to leave too much of a carbon footprint, nor do I want to contribute to global warming." I replied in almost a downhearted tone, knowing that the effects of global warming would lead to many disasters across Earth, and with my pessimistic outlook of the world, I don't expect much to change in the foreseeable future.

There was a sudden silence between us, until Monika spoke up again.

"I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm a vegetarian for the exact same reason as you. I saddens me to know how much pollution we are producing, especially in the meat industry, so switching to vegetarian was a sacrifice I was willing to make."

We continued to walk down the bustling street, chatting freely and exchanging a few jokes from time to time. These carefree moments of my life are some of the best feelings I have ever experienced; yet they occur so rarely in my busy, stress inducing life. I treasure these special feelings every time I encounter them. These are the only times where I feel completely free, free of the stress of school, and life in general.

But having Monika around now only augments this feeling of bliss and relaxation.

I turned my head to notice Monika giggling softly. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but I couldn't hold back the smirk beginning to form due to how contagious her giggling was.

"W-What's so funny?" I asked through a tone of both embarrassment and amusement, all the while desperately attempting to hold back my own laughter.

"Well, you still haven't told me where we're going to eat." She replied through slight laughter. My cheeks once again turned a light shade of crimson red out of embarrassment. Her coy smile almost predicting the impending embarrassment that I would have to face.

"Oh, m-my apologies. We're going to an oriental restaurant, not very far actually. It's a beautiful little restaurant."

"Ooh, sounds wonderful." She said with an almost a mocking, playful voice. I rolled my eyes, and we continued walking.

Four minutes later, we arrived at the restaurant. Upon entering, I heard Monika gasp in awe at how immaculately presented everything was. Her eyes scanned everything, from the traditional paintings hanging on the walls, to the small tables situated in close proximity to one another. I chuckled at her enthusiastic reaction, yet I still felt pity for Monika, knowing that she was only experiencing the real world for the first time.

We settled down at a table in the corner together, and ordered. After having lunch, it only hit me that Monika didn't have any clothes to wear, so thus began the day where my wallet would be deprived from all its cash.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an overstatement, but I was still hit pretty hard.

We exited the store with over three bags of clothes, but luckily, our house was pretty nearby, so walking back wasn't too much of a struggle. But that isn't to say my skinny, futile arms didn't suffer throughout the walk home. I opened the front door, made my way to my bed, and collapsed onto it. I almost immediately felt tired due to sleep deprivation, as I felt my eyes begin to close, and my body sink into sleep.

This was until I felt a weight collapse onto the bed next to me. I sat up suddenly with a worrisome look.

"M-Monika? Are you sure you're okay with sleeping in the same bed as me?"

For a second, she looked as confused as I was, but quickly smiled at me.

"Of course I'm okay with sleeping in the same bed as you! I wouldn't have lay down here otherwise, silly!"

I was filled with both intense excitement and anxiety. Even the concept of sleeping next to a partner was exhilarating to me, but I was extremely afraid of messing up. I quickly calmed my nerves, and settled back down onto the bed, feeling Monika's arms wrap around my neck.

With this feeling of tranquil relaxation, I promptly fell asleep.

* * *

End of chapter 4. By the way, I slipped in a reference to a game I love in the very beginning of the chapter. See if you can figure out where it's from.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone, I'm back, and free to write now! I just wanted to thank you all for your support through you follows, favourites and comments. Oh yeah, and someone got the reference in the last chapter lol.

bwburke94: Yeah, sorry about that, but I'm back now, thanks for the kind words also :)

ftbrightstar555: Hey, someone actually got the reference! It is of course from the legendary game Dark Souls, with the best sunbro Solaire. Thank you also for the kind words as well :)

* * *

My eyes slowly began to peel open, to reveal… Nothing.

"What, where am I?" I whispered to myself in both fear and confusion. A few seconds of dead silence passed, before a cold voice spoke up from a seemingly unknown source.

"Why, why the fuck would you save her?"

Flinching at this sudden question, my panicked eyes sporadically darted all across the black of the abyss, attempting to locate the source of this noise, until I heard another, equally harsh voice hiss.

"She deserves to die, she's a fucking murderer, and you go ahead and save her? You just as much of a dick as she is." I felt a surge of anger rage throughout my entire body. Every bit of anxiety and fear was replaced with aggression.

"Who are you, and what the fuck do you want?" I fired back, anger seething through every word I spat.

Nothing. I was met with no response, nothing at all. My eyes shifted downwards to glance at my hands, which seemed to be becoming more transparent by the second, no, in fact, my whole body seemed to fading.

Then, for the third time, the static returned to plague my ears. It was just as bad as I had remembered, how the soundwaves would pierce through my eardrums.

I closed my eyes, praying for this nightmare to end. And it did.

My eyes darted open, scanning the environment. Another nightmare had transpired. Whilst I was focused on my pensive thoughts, I was abruptly interrupted by a faint tickle on my cheek. Rotating my body to the left, I was met with the face of Monika, however, extremely close to me, and with strands of her hair rubbing against my face.

My lips curved into a small smirk, as I brushed some of her strands of hair away from my face. I leaned towards her face, and kissed her tenderly on the cheek, before silently exiting my bed, and tip-toeing towards my computer.

I lowered myself onto the chair, and turned on my PC. I adjusted the brightness and muted the sound, so as not to wake up Monika. I opened up file explorer, only to find that every file to do with Doki Doki Literature club was gone, even the Monika-gyt file. I tried to run the game on steam, but was unfortunately met with no success, with a prompt notifying me that I needed to install the game.

I sighed, and sat back in my chair, bored, like a child in a clothes store waiting for their parents to finish shopping. My eyes glanced towards the bottom left of my screen, reading the time 2:45 AM.

Well, I had nothing better to do, so I turned towards the large selection of games I had on my PC to cure my boredom. I settled on playing the game I both simultaneously loved and loathed, Overwatch.

I opened the game up, and was greeted by the figure of Genji, my second favourite hero after Zenyatta. I decided to play some 8v8 Free For All, since I was feeling quite competitive. As I waited to find a game, I rotated my chair to check on Monika, my eyes landing on her sleeping figure.

I turned back towards my monitor to notice that I had found a game. I cracked my fingers, preparing myself for the game I was about to play, as if I were in an Esports tournament (if only I were that good). As the game finished loading, I almost immediately moved my cursor towards the UI of Genji, and selected him.

I had a decent start, managing to reflect a careless Widowmaker's shot back at the unsuspecting player, earning a sly elimination, and also managing to get a dash elimination on a low health Doomfist.

The game was running smoothly, until two of my opponents decided to switch to Moira, a direct counter to Genji.

To make a long story short, I was destroyed by these Moiras, and ended up coming 4th on the leaderboard, which in my opinion, was pretty decent, considering I was up against some annoying heroes.

After exiting the game, I turned back towards my bed to notice that Monika was sitting at the end of it, watching my screen intently.

Her eyes promptly connected with mine, and her lips curved into an amiable smirk.

"Oh, hey Monika, I didn't realise you were awake. Did I happen to wake you up?"

"Yeah, after you kissed me, but it's fine though, since it was cute of you to do..."

My cheeks began to fluster a shade of crimson red as a wave of embarrassment hit me.

"S-Sorry about that." I replied through a small mumble, whilst wearing a bashful smirk.

"Anyway, what game were you playing?" She asked with an essence of both excitement and interest.

"Oh, it's a game called Overwatch. It's a first person shooter where you can play as many, different heroes, each in a role of either offense, defense, tank or support, but the roles have now been changed to tank, damage and support,"

"And what's the objective of the game?"

"Well, you could capture an objective, escort a payload or control a point, but I was just playing an 8v8 Free for all match,"

I led her over to my PC, where I showed her the game, and it's UI and gameplay. I also showed her the hero gallery.

"Oh, he looks cool!" Monika exclaimed whilst pointing towards a character on the screen. That character being the one and only Genji.

"He's called Genji, he's basically a cyborg ninja, he was the hero I was just playing with," I explained briefly as she listened in great interest.

"Can I try out the game?" She asked with a bashful grin. I had no idea what caused her to experience this light embarrassment, since I'd happily share another one of my interests. I smiled endearingly at her..

"Of course you can Monika," I replied reassuringly, with a stupidly wide smile plastered across my face representing that of pure joy.

I stood up from my chair to allow her to sit down, and loaded up the practice range, where I showed her all the necessary controls, along with the basic left and right mouse attacks, melee attack, abilities and ultimates. She was surprisingly good at the game, and got used to the controls and movement fairly quickly. Seriously, was there anything she wasn't good at?

"This is actually quite a lot of fun, thanks for letting me play Luke!" She beamed warmly as she performed her trademark pose. I felt my cheeks begin to lightly fluster.

"Ahaha, well you're welcome, just don't get too addicted to the game, because trust me, it's extremely addictive."

I exited the game, and checked the time, I almost jumped back in response. The time now read 4:56 AM. Well, time sure does fly when you're having fun.

I closed my PC and yawned, fatigue finally catching up to me.

"Ah, well, I guess it's time to go to bed." I sighed blissfully.

"Well, I had fun today, or this early morning." She giggled adorably.

I made my way over to the bed, and collapsed atop it, with Monika shortly after climbing on top, and settling down onto the bed next to me. She almost immediately came closer, and clutched my arm, whilst resting her head next to my shoulder.

And with this peace, we fell asleep again.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, and welcome back to the story I have created. Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I just haven't been feeling motivated to write recently, but however, I am back, and will update more frequently (I will try to do so anyway).

Bwburke94: lol, actually, I have an embarrassing story to share, when I first played Overwatch, I was a Hanzo main. It was only when I had 20 hours on Hanzo, and I was around level 50-60, did I only realise how useless I was in matches. Nowadays, I main Zenyatta, and in 8v8s, I literally only use Genji.

JustHarmonika: Thanks for all the kind words! Sorry for the short chapters (I didn't realise they were that short), I will write much longer chapters next time.

* * *

"So are we doing this or not?"

"Just shut the fuck up, okay!?" s̶̨̜̩̱̎ͨͥ͛̋͑̌ͨͪͫ͊̾̀̂ͭ̽͗͗͑͠͡d̨̧̡̙̻̤̜̱͇͙̠̼̞̰̿̓̃̍̈́ͯ̍̅̾̾̉̉͂ͧ͡͡fͧͨ̄͋̃̅͋̑҉̷̛̰͉̹̪͔͢͢h̸̯̤̳̲͙̯̥͈̪͎̹̖͊̈̈̌̾ͪ̽̂̎ͥ̍ͤ̍͝͝ͅs̴̨̡̹̪̼̗̮̬̪͓̩͇̪̻͕̲̭̱͍͒̌̓͐ͬͫ͛ͦ̄̀͡ hissed, anger seething through every word he spat, whilst he stared at the monitor's screen. His abyss black eyes were the epitome of rage at this point.

"Yes, we are going to do this, if you would let me focus for at least a second you dickhead." He spat as he scanned the various lines of code on the screen, before shaking his head dejectedly, and sighing in annoyance, his impatience finally pulling the strings of his actions.

"You really think this shit will work? If he's able to create something this powerful, he wouldn't be ignorant. He's not as stupid as you guys think, he knows what he's doing when it comes to computers. This attack will not prosper."

A few seconds passed after s̶̨̜̩̱̎ͨͥ͛̋͑̌ͨͪͫ͊̾̀̂ͭ̽͗͗͑͠͡d̨̧̡̙̻̤̜̱͇͙̠̼̞̰̿̓̃̍̈́ͯ̍̅̾̾̉̉͂ͧ͡͡fͧͨ̄͋̃̅͋̑҉̷̛̰͉̹̪͔͢͢h̸̯̤̳̲͙̯̥͈̪͎̹̖͊̈̈̌̾ͪ̽̂̎ͥ̍ͤ̍͝͝ͅs̴̨̡̹̪̼̗̮̬̪͓̩͇̪̻͕̲̭̱͍͒̌̓͐ͬͫ͛ͦ̄̀͡ 's speech before silence filled the room, causing everyone to engage in pensive thought.

"So what are we going to do then?" s̶̨̜̩̱̎ͨͥ͛̋͑̌ͨͪͫ͊̾̀̂ͭ̽͗͗͑͠͡d̨̧̡̙̻̤̜̱͇͙̠̼̞̰̿̓̃̍̈́ͯ̍̅̾̾̉̉͂ͧ͡͡fͧͨ̄͋̃̅͋̑҉̷̛̰͉̹̪͔͢͢h̸̯̤̳̲͙̯̥͈̪͎̹̖͊̈̈̌̾ͪ̽̂̎ͥ̍ͤ̍͝͝ͅs̴̨̡̹̪̼̗̮̬̪͓̩͇̪̻͕̲̭̱͍͒̌̓͐ͬͫ͛ͦ̄̀͡ questioned, a hint of annoyance in his harsh voice.

"If we can't breach them through technology, we only have one other option."

"And that is?"

"We go in physically. We kill him, and take her."

Although the idea was promising, it still inspired fear in everyone's eyes, causing them to widen in sudden shock at this extreme heist that s̶̨̜̩̱̎ͨͥ͛̋͑̌ͨͪͫ͊̾̀̂ͭ̽͗͗͑͠͡d̨̧̡̙̻̤̜̱͇͙̠̼̞̰̿̓̃̍̈́ͯ̍̅̾̾̉̉͂ͧ͡͡fͧͨ̄͋̃̅͋̑҉̷̛̰͉̹̪͔͢͢h̸̯̤̳̲͙̯̥͈̪͎̹̖͊̈̈̌̾ͪ̽̂̎ͥ̍ͤ̍͝͝ͅs̴̨̡̹̪̼̗̮̬̪͓̩͇̪̻͕̲̭̱͍͒̌̓͐ͬͫ͛ͦ̄̀͡ was planning.

"Ok then, let's move. Now."

With this sudden order, the team set out on the hunt, each individual taking their own path to execution.

As they all navigated their way through the city towards 'his' house, they all seemed to pick up on a certain sound. A sound so loud, it could only be described as deafening.

The sound of static.

And this sound only seemed to increase in volume the closer they got to the house.

However, they all ignorantly dismissed it, unknowing of the potency this simple sound held.

Unknowing of this omen...

I woke up to the glare of the early morning sun's rays shining through my windows, encouraging me to heave myself out of bed. I turned to my left to notice that Monika was still fast asleep, stirring and gently tugging against my arm. I smiled at the alluring sight before me, before regretfully easing her awake.

Her eyelids began to slowly peel open, revealing the duel orbs emerald green which were peering affectionately at me, accompanied by a small smirk plastered across her beautiful face.

As much as I would love to live the dream of staying home all day with Monika, I would have to face the inevitability of reality, and realise that staying home with Monika all day is, in fact, simply just a dream, a far cry from the bustling rollercoaster of a life I lived.

"Monika, we need to get out of bed, it's time for school unfortunately," I sighed in disappointment. It wasn't long before I heard groans of lethargy from Monika. Somehow, Monika had miraculously managed to get accepted into my school, and would now learn alongside me.

"Please, just five more minutes? Please?" She pleaded as she effused a long yawn of drowsiness. I sighed once more whilst simply smiling at her, how could I refuse Monika?

"Ok, fine. But only five more minutes, or we'll be late." I replied as I laid back down on the bed, feeling Monika almost instantly pull herself towards me, clutching me tightly as she kissed my neck softly.

I exhaled blissfully, absorbing this moment of complete contentment. In almost an instant, I began to feel drowsy, the sensation of sleep almost overwhelming my consciousness, before I quickly darted awake.

I glanced to my left to notice that Monika had fallen asleep again. I softly chuckled, before regretfully waking her up once again.

We freshened up in the bathroom, before having breakfast, then getting changed. We exited the house, chatting freely as we made our way to school.

Upon entering, I almost immediately began to hear curious whispers of pupils, wondering who this new girl was, and how on Earth a nerd like me managed to get such a beautiful girlfriend.

I scanned the area around me, and noticed a friend in the distance: James, probably the only friend I had in this school.

He approached us with an endearing smile.

"Hey Luke! Who's this you have with you? Your girlfriend?" He asked.

"Yes, she's my girlfriend, and she's new. Her name's Mo-" I just managed to catch myself from revealing Monika's identity.

"Melissa..." I said plainly. Thankfully, he seemed to accept this name, and simply continued smiling, although, I couldn't help but notice his eyes widen ever so slightly.

"Well, I need to go now, see you guys during break!" He exclaimed cheerfully as he headed off.

"Thank God you didn't slip out my name back there!"

"No worries, I almost forgot for a second there. Let's just pray that nobody recognises you."

We sat down at a nearby table, chatting and waiting for lessons to begin, which reminded me that Monika had yet to receive a time table. I informed her of this, leading her up to the head's office.

She entered, and I waited outside for her to return with knowledge of her future lessons. She exited the room with a sheet in hand, showing me the lessons she had, and the ones we shared together. Surprisingly, we shared the same English lessons, and with the period one today being English, we made our way to the lesson.

I sat alone on the two person desk in English lessons, meaning there was a convenient spot next to me for Monika to sit.

After settling down, I looked towards the board to notice that we would be doing one of the most mundane activities in existence: analysing a Shakespeare play.

I groaned as I opened my book and flicked to the next blank page.

Monika seemed to notice my sudden shift in demeanour, staring at the glum expression I held.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, leaning towards me to stare into my eyes sympathetically.

"It's just that I find Shakespeare so boring; even more so when I have to analyse his plays." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Aww, come on, it could be fun..." She smiled sweetly, her optimism was so contagious, that it caused me to smile back.

But however, it was as boring as I had expected it to be. I was only five minutes into the lesson, and I already felt disinterested. The teacher's monotone voice only augmented my feeling of boredom. I sighed, and simply waited for the sound of the bell to signal the end of the lesson, and when it came, it sounded like Heaven.

Skipping forward in time to period six, the final period which was unsurprisingly my favourite subject: Computer Science. It also turned out that Monika and I shared the same computer science lessons.

I sat down at my computer, and logged in. Once the computer had loaded, I opened up my project folder, which was a Python program which the class was required to create over a long period of time.

After the teacher had explained the task to Monika, she sat down next to me, and logged in.

As she waited for her computer to load, her eyes glanced over towards my screen, staring in deep interest at the many lines of code on the screen.

"Hmm, this looks really cool!" She exclaimed in enthusiasm.

"It is, but you're probably going to make something even better." I smiled, knowing full well that she was better than me at Python.

"Aww, don't put yourself down like that."

"But we both know that you're just way better at everything than I am."

"I'm definitely not!"

I smiled to myself at the humbleness she displayed. Although she has so much to boast about: her beauty, intellect, athleticism, etc, she doesn't brag about anything, nor does she think of herself as superior in any way.

And she proved her intelligence by completing three quarters of her project in one lesson. The teacher was so shocked that he was almost convinced that she copied me, when in fact, she had done everything herself.

The final bell had just rung, signalling the end of the day, we saved our work, and headed out of school. Upon exiting, we were almost immediately hit by the scorching rays of the sun.

We walked home, chatting together and laughing, the burden of the school day finally off our shoulders…

* * *

How?

How is she alive?

What?

And why hasn't he told anyone?

I sat in my bedroom, utterly bewildered. I wasn't just confused, and even to say I was astonished would be an understatement.

But I was also amazed, and also extremely happy for him.

Firstly, because he has a girlfriend, and secondly, because he actually has Monika, THE Monika.

I can't say I'm not a little jealous though.

But still I want answers. I need to know how this miracle occurred.

However, even if I receive answers, I'll still be as confused as I am now. I always will be. Something like this should not occur in real life, this is beyond my understanding.

But Monika coming into the real world opens a whole new set of questions.

If Monika can enter reality, can't other video game characters enter reality?

Even those from fantasy games like the Elder Scrolls?

Actually, I might as well go to his house now.

I hope he won't mind...


	7. Chapter 7

Hello guys. Sorry for no updates recently, the chapter was taking longer than usual to write - mainly because I am a lazy shit lol.

I'll try to update as frequently as I can. Again, sorry for the long wait.

(Btw, this is by far the longest chapter I've written.)

* * *

Monika and I approached the front door of my house (or should I say, our house) and opened it with ease, revealing the welcoming sight and soothing scent of the abode.

I exhaled blissfully, my hand intertwined with Monika's in a firm, but loving grip.

She turned towards me with a warm smirk, her gentle orbs of emerald seemingly inspecting my face with deep interest, until she finally spoke.

"Luke, you know how in the game I kept on rambling about how cute you were?"

"Y-yes, I do remember." I stuttered as my cheeks instantly adapted to the embarrassment I was experiencing, through shifting to a light shade of crimson.

"Well, I never saw your face, so I just assumed that you were cute,"

"I... O-okay?" I replied. I could see where this was going already.

Her smile only grew, the anticipation and excitement of my reaction to her future statement present on her face.

"Well, I guess my assumptions were correct, because everything about you is adorable!"

I could feel my face turn completely crimson. I could feel my heart about to burst since it was pounding incredibly fast. I couldn't comprehend what I had just heard; a beautiful girl calling me cute,

A beautiful girl calling a computer nerd CUTE!

"I-I-I, Umm." I struggled to string together a sentence, only making Monika giggle even harder, consequently making me even more embarrassed.

I did the only thing my stupid brain could think to do, which somehow made me appear 'cuter' to Monika, and awkwardly adjusted my glasses for no apparent reason, all the while retaining the deep blush on my cheeks.

"Aww! See! Look at how adorable you are!" She teased, only augmenting the embarrassment I was facing.

She had really trapped me in a corner, well, not literally, metaphorically, and was manipulating my sensitive emotions at her will.

To finish this scene of loving teasing off, Monika leaned in towards me, pressing her soft lips against mine in an affectionate manner, kissing me gently before pulling away to peer into my awestruck eyes, all the while giggling playfully whilst cupping my red cheeks.

Never in my life did I think that I would be in a situation where I am being teased and flirted with relentlessly by a beautiful girl.

And never would I have believed that I would get kissed by a girl.

My face, which was shifting to darker shades of crimson by the second, seemed to be frozen in place, no muscle dared to move even an inch. It was as if I were petrified, but through love.

Just as I was on the brink of contemplating whether I was in an amazing dream or not, she removed her hand from my face in order to hold my hand tightly.

"Come on, let's get inside," She smiled sweetly as she pulled me into the house somewhat forcefully, pretending as though nothing ever happened. I sighed in relief, thankful that she at least gave me a brief chance to calm my blush down.

I stepped inside after her; closing the door shut with my free hand. She pulled me forwards into the living room, and turned towards me.

"Hey, I forgot to ask this, but where are your parents?" She asked with a slight hint of apprehension.

"They went on holiday about a week ago, to take a break, they claim, but I know that the only reason they went was for me to have a chance at finding a partner. Well, I guess I kind of succeeded?" I chuckled, knowing fully well that I wouldn't have been able to get a partner if it wasn't for Monika.

I shuddered and cringed at the thought of me trying to flirt with another girl. The embarrassment I would face after I would most likely fail, and stutter uncontrollably like a coward.

But I smiled to myself, knowing that I no longer needed to go through that stress, since I have Monika. I'm probably the luckiest guy on Earth.

"Well, what do you want to do now? We could maybe play some games..." I suggested awkwardly, with slight embarrassment present on my face.

She simply retained her warm smile.

"Hmm... I was thinking we could perhaps play some more… Interesting games..." She giggled teasingly, staring at me slightly more lustfully now, her eyes taking on a more sultry appearance.

I felt my face turn a deep shade of crimson once again. How many times a day was she going to tease me like this?

She approached me slowly until we were directly opposite to one another, her lustful, dilated pupils staring me down gently, yet quite seductively simultaneously. I would be lying if I said this didn't turn me on just a little.

Okay, maybe it turned me on quite moderately, but I was still in no position to go THAT far with her…

Yet…

God, what am I saying, I'm such a perv.

Her emeralds stared me down for quite some time, until she burst out laughing.

"I was just teasing you silly, no need to be so embarrassed!" She giggled as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Your face was too adorable for me to not laugh!" She exclaimed through more giggling.

I felt the crimson on my cheeks fade, and my heart rate gradually slow. I was too bewildered and embarrassed to say anything back.

"Okay, seriously now, what games were you thinking we play?" She asked.

Just as I was about to reply, I heard a knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it," I groaned slightly as I made my way to answer it. My hand grasped the handle and twisted it downwards, opening the door. I looked up to see my friend, James.

"Hey Luke, can I come in to talk about something?" He asked somewhat shyly.

"Sure," I replied stepping aside so he could walk in.

"So uh, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"You see your girlfriend right?"

"Yes?"

"Well uh, first of all, I never thought you could actually get a girl,"

"Wow, thanks for the support," I sarcastically said, albeit, he had every right to have no faith in me.

"Secondly, you're welcome, and thirdly, why does Melissa look like Monika?"

Shit… I desperately tried to retain my composure and hide my anxiety.

"Yeah, she kinda does, but unfortunately, there's no possible way that Monika could exist," I explained, praying that he believed my lie.

"Luke, who's there?" I heard Monika ask as she appeared around the corner. She noticed James, and she too also attempted to retain her normal demeanour. She smiled at James.

"It is her, isn't it?" He smiled.

"N-no, no it isn't I-"

"Come on, just tell me. She is identical to the actual Monika in game. Her voice, looks, everything. I even heard you slightly stutter when I asked for her name,"

Shit. He really put me in a trap.

"N-no I already told y-"

"Just tell me, I promise I will not tell a single other person. You can trust me on this, how long have we known each other?"

I sighed in defeat. Well, I guess my secret has to been discovered. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if a friend knew, after all, James and I have known each other for quite a while, and I could trust him to keep a secret.

"Okay, fine, she is Monika, she is real, but you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone about this."

"Wait, you're being serious right? You're not joking are you?"

"Nope. I'm telling the 100% truth. She's real," He looked as though he were about to faint in excitement, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"What the hell? Is this even reality anymore? How does Monika exist?" He said as his bewildered eyes made their way to stare in awe at Monika.

"Well, to put it simply, I jumped out of a printer," Monika explained with an amused smirk.

He rolled his eyes, as a curved on his smile on his lips.

"No, seriously, how is she here?"

"She jumped out of a printer," I said plainly, shrugging my shoulders with a poker face.

He rolled his eyes once more, but more vigorously this time.

"I mean how did she jump out of a printer,"

"To make a long story short, I created a python program which could turn Monika's file into a genetic file, and from there, I 'printed' her off" I explained.

"So she essentially jumped out of a printer?"

"Yes!" Monika and I both exclaimed simultaneously. It was our turn to roll our eyes.

Just as James was about to speak, he was interrupted by ringtone coming from somewhere in his trousers.

"Oh! I've gotta answer this, it's my mum calling, I have to go now. See you both tomorrow!"

"Bye James," I smiled as he made his way out of the door, frantically attempting to pull out his phone and answer the call.

I closed the door, exhaling slowly.

"So uh, wanna play some Overwatch?"

"I'd love to," she replied as she took my hand and led me to my room.

I walked over to my PC and turned it on. The screen illuminated, and promptly asked me to log in.

As I was about to, I heard a knock on the front door, however, this was much louder, and far more violent.

In a mere second, the knock was followed by loud thud, and the front door burst open, with many footsteps entering quickly.

"Check every single fucking room," I heard, frustration and aggression in their tone.

Monika and I stared at each other, wide eyed and completely confused. It wasn't long before I was overwhelmed by an unnerving feeling of fear.

The footsteps coming closer to the bedroom door only augmented my heart rate exponentially.

A figure dressed in all black entered the room, his face covered with a jet black mask and hood. He was armed with a fully loaded assault rifle, along with a small pistol in his left pocket. He almost instantly noticed us as he walked in, pointing the gun at me and calling out that we were hiding in this room.

His gun remained focused on me while four other equally equipped men entered the room, all of them seeming to point their guns at me.

"Don't you fucking move." One said as he made his way over to me. When he was close enough, he held the rifle in one hand, balled his free hand into a fist and hit me, connecting a punch to the temple of my face. I groaned in agony, but this wasn't the pain I cared about. It was hearing Monika's verbal pain, her gasp followed by a cry of despair.

And this was what ultimately angered me.

"Why, why the fuck would you save her?"

Flinching at this sudden question, my angered eyes sporadically darted all across the walls of the room, attempting to formulate some sort of plan, until I heard another, equally harsh voice hiss.

"She deserves to die, she's a fucking murderer, and you go ahead and save her? You just as much of a dick as she is." I felt a surge of anger rage throughout my entire body. Every bit of anxiety and fear was replaced with aggression.

It was only until then that I realised.

I realised the coincidence.

The exact dream I had three days ago was playing out in reality almost identically.

Meaning there could only be one thing that could occur next.

The static.

"Who are you guys and what the fuck do you want?" I hissed, glaring daggers into their eyes.

"You give her to us, and we'll leave, either that or you die,"

"Fuck you," I hissed, venom in each word I spat.

Just then, I heard a gunshot, and instantly felt a searing pain in my shoulder, followed by an even louder cry from Monika, I looked up and saw tears in her eyes. They formed in the corners and rolled slowly down her cheeks. Her face was twisted in despair, as she stared at me in horror, whilst audibly weeping.

I had never felt as pissed in my life as I was now.

Usually, when a human receives anger, it isn't to the point where murder would be seen as a viable solution.

Our morals now act as physical boundaries, ones we should not transgress.

But seeing Monika in this much despair angered me to the point where I could decisively murder with no empathy.

I wasn't going to lose Monika.

I'm tired of being fucking beat down.

Then it came.

It rained down on us like thunder.

The static.

The feeling was intense.

I watched as the men writhed about in pain and agony.

However, the static did not affect me, nor did it affect Monika.

But there was a sensation.

Not a pleasant one.

It felt dark, morbid perhaps, like the tension of the inevitability of death.

I could only watch as they all struggled to stand, suffering the plague of a simple noise.

"What the… What the fu- What the fuck are you doing!?" One shouted through fits of intense pain, aiming the gun at my head.

"I'm warning you, stop this shit now or you die!"

I didn't reply, I couldn't.

"5!"

I felt a rise of panic, a surge of adrenaline screaming at me, telling me I'm in trouble.

"4!"

I was helpless, there was nothing I could do, only wait for the impending sensation of death.

"3!"

I closed my eyes, reminiscing on all the past events in my life, the good and bad, all of it was pointless now.

"2!"

I didn't dare look up, I couldn't. I didn't want the last thing I see to be Monika being tortured mentally.

"1!"

This is it, the end.

I then heard two words which would mean the demise of myself, and would leave Monika scarred and miserable for eternity.

"Kill him,"

There was a loud gunshot, followed by very brief excruciating pain, and then unconsciousness.

I had slipped off the edge of living, and fallen into the abyss of death.

It was a calm, tranquil sensation that washed over me during the last milliseconds of my life.

I had sunk to the bottom of the abyss of death, and remained stationary.

I don't know how long I waited for, it may have been mere milliseconds, or even thousands of millennia.

But the only important thing was how I gradually felt myself being lifted upwards by an unknown force.

With each centimetre I rose, I began to feel life returning to me, it was a blissful, optimistic feeling.

I rose until I saw the top of the abyss, the light of day.

And I regained consciousness.

I slowly opened my eyes to see Monika's face above mine.

She wore the same, hurt face as the last time I saw her.

She cradled my body, and softly wept with her eyes closed.

I reached up and brushed a hair from her face.

She stared down and gasped in shock at me.

"I-I thought y-you died, h-how are you alive?" She asked holding me even tighter.

"I don't know,"

She leaned down and began to cry even harder whilst gripping onto me extremely tightly, hugging me as if her life depended on it. I could only hug her equally as tightly.

I lifted my hand to my shoulder, and expected to feel a bullet wound and sharp pain, but I ended up feeling nothing but the smooth fabric of my shirt. I guided my hand to the side of my head where I was shot, and again, felt nothing but my hair.

"What the hell? How? I was shot, how am I alive?" I whispered to myself.

I sat up and hugged Monika tightly once more, assuring her that I was okay.

I looked around the room, everything looked as though it were untouched, there was no sign that the men had even stepped foot in the room.

I turned to my PC and noticed that file explorer had opened automatically somehow, and was displaying a new python program, under the name "void".

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself in disbelief. I never had any memory of creating such file, so how this was created is a complete mystery.

I moved my cursor to highlight the file, and double clicked to run it, opening the program.

I waited for around a half a minute, focused on the screen, unmoving.

Then, the most unnerving message popped up. It was simply downright creepy.

On the screen, in white letters, read the message:

"don't worry, i'll be watching :)"

Then the program closed automatically, leaving me completely perplexed at what I had just witnessed, but that wasn't all.

As the program closed, I noticed a new text file that had been created, seemingly by the program I had just run. It was under the same name: void.

I opened it. There were only four words, yet they all inspired fear within me, fear I have never encountered. The fear of the unknown.

"Welcome to the void"

* * *

End of chapter.

Thanks for reading! If you're wondering how you would create the program in the end, the code would look like this, (Replace the hyphens with dots):

import time

import sys

time-sleep(30)

print("don't worry, i'll be watching :)")

time-sleep(3)

void = open("void-txt", "w")

void-write("Welcome to the void.")

sys-exit();


	8. A Message

Hey everyone. Sorry that this isn't a new chapter, but I wanted to say something important.

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you all for the favourites, follows and reviews, I really do appreciate it.

Now, I'm going to talk about the main reason why I don't post new chapters very frequently. It's not that I don't enjoy writing, I really do enjoy writing these chapters, but it's more so the fact that I feel quite self conscious about posting chapters.

What I mean by this, is that regardless of how much time I spend on a chapter, or regardless of how happy I am with the chapter quality wise, I feel as though many people won't enjoy it, or think the story is shit.

Because of this, I always contemplate whether I should upload a new chapter, or even completely remove the story.

Regardless of how many follows or favourites I get, this self conscious feeling won't leave me.

I also have a fear that I'm quite nervous about. It's the fear that I'll slip up one chapter, and end up failing and disappointing everyone.

I know this feeling sounds really stupid, but it really is demotivating.

You guys have shown me nothing but kindness through your reviews, follows and favourites, and I cannot express how appreciative I am of you all.

Thank you all so much for supporting me through this journey.

I definitely won't quit the story any time soon, however, chapters may take longer to post.

I'm really sorry about all this.

I'm not sure when I'll post chapter 8, hopefully by some time next week.

I love you all, thanks for reading this.

-Luke


	9. Chapter 8

Hello everyone.

I honestly didn't expect this much support from everyone, thank you all SO much for your support and understanding.

I can honestly say that this must be the nicest community out there, and I've had experience with a lot of communities (most of them consist of quite toxic fanbases). However, this community must be the best one yet.

Again, thank you all so, SO much for all your reviews, follows and favourites. Thank you! I thank all of you for giving me this opportunity.

As I said, I love you all, onto the chapter.

-Luke

* * *

What...?

What the hell?

My mind swirled with a mixture of thoughts, some enigmatic, and some plain fearful, for I had no idea what to make of this harrowing message on the screen before me.

Was this some sort of twisted glitch, or some sort of spirit lurking within the files of my PC?

I turned to Monika, who had an almost identical face to me: one which had been petrified in fear.

We stared for a moment at each other, before I spoke up.

"Monika, I… I don't know… What..." I mumbled, fear and confusion etched within each word I muttered.

I struggled to speak.

I couldn't.

I had nothing I could say.

There was nothing to say.

We simply stared at the screen, attempting to find some sense in these files, but neither of us could.

These files being mysteriously created weren't even the most unexplainable events to occur today.

My survival of a bullet shot straight through my skull.

The static and deja vu.

How no sign of the men even entering my house had even been left behind…

It's all unfathomable.

Where did the men even go? Did they run away? Or did they simply disappear?

These questions filled my mind as I began to space out and fall into a state of reflection.

"Hey Luke," I heard a soft voice coo, that exact voice belong to Monika.

"Huh… Oh! Sorry, what were you saying, I spaced out there..." I replied, instantaneously snapping out of my trance-like state to avert my attention to the girl that had just called my name.

I felt a comforting hand rest against my shoulder whilst a head lay atop my other shoulder.

"Luke, I don't know anything about what happened, or anything about the static, but I promise you, we'll make it through this," She reassured. Her voice was soft, extremely soothing, calming my nerves and washing away all the fear that I previously held.

She brought both of her hands to my cheeks, cupping them, leaning in and placing a kiss on my lips briefly, before pulling away to stare into my eyes.

I exhaled deeply, closing my eyes to relieve any tension, and turned my head the screen of my monitor.

The files were still there, they hadn't been magically deleted or anything, even if they had been, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Then an unmistakable noise came. One which was perceived by both me and Monika.

The static.

It became increasingly louder, except, we were unaffected. We remained unhindered, neither of us flinched even at the peak of the static's loudness.

What the hell could this even mean?

Is this even reality anymore?

This continued on for a minute, before the sound ceased to continue, and nothing but silence overwhelmed us.

We were both anticipating something to occur, anything abnormal that would fulfil this glitchy reality I now lived in, augment the eeriness.

But nothing occurred.

It was just the static.

There was no climax to the static like there always had been, nothing.

I pondered on this thought for a couple of minutes, within my room of pensive silence.

However, this thought had been proven wrong, since there was an occurrence, one that was more enigmatic than all the other occurrences.

Then, again came the static, louder than it were previously.

But, we heard… Something.

Something within the static.

A voice.

"Hello?"

The voice called though the mass of noise, however, to us, it seemed glitched, distorted, as if it were muffled.

My eyes widened, and I turned towards Monika, who seemed to be just as unnerved as me.

The static lowered in intensity, thus, causing the room to become more quiet.

Then we heard the voice again.

"Hello?"

It was far more decipherable this time, and we could make out the voice of someone… Something actually, considering the voice was far from human, and indeed, somewhat robotic, bizarre even.

Neither of us could even tell whether the voice belonged to a male or female.

"Hello?"

By now, the static had completely gone, and we were only left with that same voice calling out to us.

And there was only one thing we could do: answer the voice.

"Hello? Who and what are you?" I called out to this entity seemingly lurking within my PC. We waited, anticipating an answer from this voice.

A few seconds of silence passed, then the voice spoke up again.

"Hello Luke, quite frankly, I don't know who I am, I guess I'm just a glitch," The tone wasn't harsh or violent, in fact, it was quite soft and almost humorous.

Although I was nervous and in utter disbelief at this 'glitch', it didn't scare me as much as it should have, thanks to both the previous events that occurred and also the laid back tone this voice held.

I sighed in annoyance and furrowed my eyebrows.

"Look, all I want to know is who you are, why all this is happening to me and why you're talking to me," I stated sternly, my point coming across quite boldly, something that I had always been incapable of since I was young.

"Alright, alright, calm down! As I said before, I don't know who I am, and I don't have a name either, but I do know how I was created."

"Tell me, and are you sure you're not just some virus that has infected my PC?"

"I'm not a virus, in fact, I was created by you."

This statement had caught me off guard, causing me to become more confused than I had been before.

"W-what do you mean I created you?" I asked, my once daring demeanour fading, leaving my default, shy and cowardly one to dictate actions.

"Hey, no need to stutter! Don't be afraid of me, I'm only here to help you. I know that you created Monika into a gnt file, and 'printed' her off into your world, well, while you were running the python program that converted Monika to a gnt file, I, a corrupted file of yours, happened to be converted as well."

Even though this all seemed completely unfathomable to me, it was logical.

"So how are you communicating to me then? I didn't print you off, I didn't even know you existed up until now."

"You did print me off, it's just that you didn't notice though. Here's a question, did you happen to hear static when you printed off Monika?"

My mind journeyed to the past, reminiscing on that moment. That scene was as clear as a blue sky, and the static also was.

"Yes, I did,"

"That was me being, let's say, 'created' I guess. To know if I'm around, all you have to hear is static."

Static…

Then, what does all this mean then, the spontaneous moments where the static appeared, the way how I survived the gunshot, was this all because of this, thing?

This glitch?

"What? Are you the one responsible then? Are you responsible for all the static, mine and Monika's survival from the gunshots, everything?"

No, there's no way this glitch could possibly cause all this to occur, it's not real, nothing is.

But no matter how hard I convince myself that this isn't real, I will always end up realising that everything that has occurred is real.

"I would be lying if I said it wasn't caused by me. If you're wondering how the static even works, unfortunately, I don't even know myself, all I know is that I can protect you with this, and that it only works in the most extreme situations."

 _In the most extreme situations…_ That would explain why in situations where I'm feeling extreme anger, or fear, I hear the static.

But the real question is, what does this static even do?

"What about the men who tried to kill us, what happened to them?"

"They were… They… Well, they were sent to a place I like to call, 'the void'. It's as dark as it sounds, there's nothing, just complete darkness. It's where those who wrong you are taken, the static that can be heard is simply saying that 'you are going to the void', in other words: 'You fucked up',"

Monika and I were both rendered speechless at this point, neither of us knew what to say, or even remembered how to speak.

I wanted to desperately ask more questions, I needed answers, yet the shock had disabled me from speaking.

I could only stand and listen to what our friend over hear had to say.

"Well, this is enough for today, I'm sure you two would like to regain at least some of your sanity back, so I'll leave you two for now. Goodbye, Luke, you too Monika."

"Wait! I just want to know if you want a name or not"

"Sure, just call me Void I guess,"

And with this last statement, he vanished.


	10. Chapter 9

Hello everyone, really sorry for the long wait! I was really busy with school, so I didn't have much time to write, apologies for that! I will promise not to take such a long break next time.

Again, sorry guys.

Andy: Well your question has been answered lol. Thanks for the nice review though, really appreciate it :)

Also, a quick note: I live in the UK, so for foreign readers, like in the USA, some terms may be different for school.

For example: I may say break, which means recess.

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

My eyes slowly began to peel open due to the unpleasant droning of my alarm waking me from my deep slumber.

As always with every night of sleep I had, Monika and I would be curled up against one another, clutching onto each other as if we were lifelines.

Today was no different.

One of her arms is outstretched underneath my body, whilst the other could be found draped across my chest. Her hands met, intertwined at the other side of my body, trapping me within her embrace, which I had no intent of escaping from.

Unfortunately however, today was a school day, hence why I felt so utterly fatigued, and also why my alarm went off this early in the morning.

Monika let out an inert yawn as her eyelids began to slowly flicker open, revealing those infinitely hypnotising, yet all the more alluring eyes.

As her adjusted to her surroundings, she looked up at me, lips instantaneously curving into a smile, which in turn, caused me to smile back.

"Good morning Monika," I smiled as the warm words exited my mouth freely.

"Good morning Luke. Come on, let's get out of bed," She spoke, pushing the covers off her and jumping off the bed before turning back to me in a motion of swiftness and smirking sweetly at me.

I let out a melancholic groan, the warmth of her body that once embraced me ceasing to exist as I reluctantly left the comfort of my bed to get ready for school.

I walked over to my bathroom, where I stood in front of the mirror to examine my dark, lost eyes. I sighed before splashing my face with cold water in an attempt to wake myself up slightly.

After finishing up in the bathroom, I got dressed, quickly scoffed down some toast before heading off to school.

Despite having Monika by my side, I felt apprehensive; sick almost.

No, not the nauseous type of sickness, but the anxious sickness.

I continued walking for a few minutes, until I reached the school, where Monika and I said our goodbyes to each other before heading off to our separate classes.

My eyes began to become hazy and blurred I walked up the stairs. I shook my head vigorously, attempting to regain at least some energy back.

I entered the class silently, approaching my seat before pulling it away from the desk to allow myself space to sit down.

I waited, seated in my desk for class to start.

A bell echoed reverberated throughout the rooms, signalling that anyone who entered class now would be late.

I looked out at the door at the once lively and bustling corridor, which had now been left in solitude.

The teacher's voice promptly sounded, emitting words which I absorbed as only muffled murmurs. No matter how hard I tried, couldn't focus on anything that left the teacher's mouth; the words and sentences were meaningless to me.

I looked up at the board and realised that we had been assigned a task to complete. I sighed, and began to write.

I didn't find biology very difficult, but god was this boring.

I looked at the various questions on the board that had been displayed.

When the hell would I ever need to use this in life?

I wish Monika were here, next to me, ease the pain of this dull, pointless lesson, only augmented by monotonous droning of the teacher's voice.

I reached into my pocket to grab my timetable. Flipping it open, I examined the lessons I had after this. I smiled to myself, slowly circling the two lessons I shared with Monika near the end of the day.

I sighed, folding back my timetable, continuing to answer the questions in silence.

Look at the next question board, think for a moment, answer the question, rinse and repeat until you have run out of questions, that was my cycle for answering these questions.

"Hey," I heard a faint whisper.

 _Who the hell was that? Probably someone trying to talk to someone else…_ I ignored this noise, until I heard it again after a few seconds.

"Hey Luke," I looked around the class; most people had their heads down, with a few whispering to one another. I ignored to voice for a second time, until I heard it again.

"Luke,"

"What?" I hissed instinctively at seemingly nothing.

"Hey, down here, on your phone." I looked at my pocket apprehensively before realising how ridiculous this scenario was, however, it pales in comparison to what occurred last week.

"Hey, It's Void, remember me?" My eyes widened slightly. How on earth did he manage to find his way into my phone?

"Yes I do, but how are you in my phone?" I whispered into my pocket, receiving confused glances from my classmates.

As if I didn't appear weird enough.

"Okay, this is a long story, but essentially, I-"

"Excuse me, this is silent work, why are you talking? See me at the end of the day."

 _Fuck,_ I thought to myself as the voice from my pocket disappeared. I continued to answer the questions until the bell rang, signalling the end of the treacherous double period, and the start of break.

I exited the class and walked out into the corridor, where I made my way outside to get some fresh air. Outside, I found an old, wooden bench to sit on and focus on my thoughts.

It's all too convoluted. I don't understand anything, nothing makes sense anymore.

My hands found their way to my face, placing them each across half of my face, allowing my head to rest against my palms.

I heard footsteps nearby, each step becoming increasingly slightly louder by the second until they stopped completely. I felt a slight weight settle next to me on the bench, followed by an arm draping across my shoulder comfortingly.

It didn't take long for me to figure out who this was.

"Luke, what's wrong, you seem quite upset. I know everything that happened last week seems too surreal even to be true, but we have to stay strong, and I'll be here for you whenever you need to talk about anything." Her presence gave me warmth. It ignited a small candle warm up my anxiety, but it wasn't enough to calm me completely.

"Thank you Monika. Thank you for always being there for me. You've helped me in so many ways. I love you, so much." I whispered with a slight blush on my cheeks due to the affection I had just displayed.

However, Monika seemed to be affected by this simple speech more than I had previously thought.

Her once clear, emerald gems were filled with tears as she brought me into a hug. Thankfully, this area of the school usually is quite quiet, not many students visit this area very often, today happened to be one of those days where it was just the two of us, alone.

"You don't know how much that simple speech meant to me. Never did I think that I could be properly loved, when I was in the game, I was just so isolated, no one was there, it was just me, alone, but once you started talking to me, I felt loneliness begin to"fade, to the point where I felt completely loved, but now that you're here with me, I'm the most happy I've ever been,"

This left me completely stunned, for I never knew the extent of her loneliness, but also never knew I could impact someone in such a way that they actually feel loved, especially a girl. So Monika saying this seemed foreign to me.

No, it was her who saved me. It was her who made me happier that I have ever been. She's the real heroine here. Without her, I would undoubtedly still be alone, depressed and paranoid like I was previously.

Monika was the one to save me.

"No Monika, you were the one to save me. Without you, I would still be alone, and most probably, for the rest of my life. You were the one to rescue me, and for that, I thank you, so much."

We shortly after pulled away from the embrace. I scanned the area carefully to notice if anyone had seen us, fortunately, no one had, it was still us, alone.

Together.

"So, is there anything else you would like to share with me?" She asked, smiling at me warmly. Despite the cold, her smile nullified the bitter bites of the cold, instead replacing them with warm embraces.

"Yeah, I got a detention."

Not soon after hearing this, her facial expression quickly shifted from her pleasant smile to one of sorrow.

"You what? How?!"

I sheepishly grinned before explaining the whole 'Void' phone incident to Monika.

"He was about to explain how he managed to get into my phone, when my teacher interrupted me to tell me that I got a detention. For _whispering_ to absolutely nothing."

She giggled slightly at how ridiculous the scenario I had told her was.

"I'll wait for you at the end of the day if you want, I won't just leave you!" She winked playfully.

"Nah, it's fine, don't wait for me, besides, it gets cold later in the afternoon."

She frowned a bit at my response.

"Luke, are you sure that you don't want me to wait?

I smiled, shaking my head.

"It's fine Monika"

With that last statement, the bell rang, signalling the start of classes once again. We hugged, before departing to our separate classes.

I watched as she gracefully walked off to her class along the opposite direction I was in. I sighed blissfully, so, extremely grateful to have such a beautiful person by my side.

After her figure disappeared, I found myself walking to my own class. Not to my surprise, the corridors were completely jammed with students pushing and shoving past each other.

After somehow managing to squeeze through the mass of bodies, I reached inside my pocket to grab my phone and check the time.

"Hey! How's it going friend?"

 _Oh God not this idiot again._

"Void, what do you want, I'm really not in the mood and I'll be late to class if you don't hurry up."

"I just wanted to congratulate you on those smooth moves back there. Keep it up man!"

I didn't respond to the complete stupidity exiting the speaker of my phone, instead, I shoved it back in my pocket, turning it off.

 _I'll just him about how he got into my phone later…_

The rest of the day was about as dull as I had expected, nothing interesting, just the same boring material.

However, the last two periods were far more bearable compared to the rest, seen as though not only was Monika in both those lessons, but one of those periods was computer science.

The final school bell rang and the halls were soon after filled with students rushing to escape the confinement of the building after six, tiresome hours.

 _Oh yeah, my detention, fantastic…_

Monika hugged me goodbye before heading home, whereas I had to endure thirty minutes of inhaling the stale air drifting across the musky classroom in my detention.

I entered the class in silence, I settled where the teacher motioned for me to sit. As soon as I sat down, his eyes darted towards the screen of his monitor, typing something unknown that I genuinely didn't care about at all.

My mind wandered throughout the thirty minutes, recalling the past, almost supernatural events that occurred. Still, even to this day, I am completely clueless as to how anything happened.

 _And I wonder how Void even managed to find his way into my phone?_

 _What even is he?_

 _Is he even real?_

 _How is he even sentient?_

 _I don't understand, it's all too overwhelming._

"Uh, excuse me?"

I paid no attention at all to the voice I heard, since I was lost in a trance of my imagination.

"Hello?"

It was only until he came up to me did I realise how far into my mind I had wandered.

"Your detention has been served, you can leave now."

I didn't even look at him when he said that, I simply dashed towards the door and out towards the exit.

As I exited the school, a harsh gale sliced at my face, leaving bitter cold marks to freeze my face.

The air had turned cold, extremely cold.

And it also didn't help that the sun was close to setting.

 _This will be a terrible travel home..._


End file.
